Intermittent movement



May 18, 1937.

E. H. SPERBERG INTERMITTENT MOVEMENT Filed Feb. 1. 1935 s: flfiVENTOR WM g- ATTORN EY Patented May 18, i937.

UNITED STATES INTERMITTEN'T MOVEMENT Edward H. Sperberg, Chicago, Ill.

. Application February I, 1935, Serial No. 4,573 1 (11.0m (c1. 88-184) The present invention relates generally to ,motion picture apparatus and more particularly to intermittent feeding movements for such apparatus. i

5 It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved high speed intermittent movement for motion picture apparatus employing usual perforated film. l v i As is well understood in the art, theprojection of so-called motion pictures from an interrriit tently moving film requires that the beam of light which is passed through the film be cut off,

generally by a revolving shutter, while the film is actually moving. Also,in.order that such obscuration of the image does notbecome visible to the beholder in the form of flicker, it is also necessary to add to the so-called cut-off blade of the shutter other and generally smaller flicker blades to balance the cuta-offi' blade. The total extent of all of such obscuring blades is obviousand the light loss fromshutterv operation correspondingly reduced. i

In such movements as constructedin the past,

several faults have been common. First, such movements have been expensive to construct.

Second, they have damaged the film by imposing severe shock strains thereon because of their extreme rapidity in the initial and concluding portions of each film movement. Third, they havebeen noisy,particularly when wear hasappeared.

A primary object of the presentinvention is to provide a very rapid movement-illustrated as of the ratio known as 12 to lwhich avoids all oftheabove and other diflic ulties, and on the contrary is inexpensive, does not damage the film, and is quiet, all as will appear in. the following portion of thisspecification. I i i For intermittently moving the teeth of a claw member with the rapidity necessary to obtain a high speed feeding or advancement of the film, revoluble means operating on the principle of a boxcam have beenwidelyjused, suchbox cams eliminating the springs which are necessary to during its operation. Such box cam salso tendto secure quiet operationjsince the camand the Vii follower are always necessarily in engagement, with no chance that the cam follower will leave the fast revolving cam work. faces and be returnedthereagainst. to produce clicking o'r slapping noises. As is well knownto those skilled in the construction of cams, however, the manufacturing costs of accurate box cams are usually relatively high compared to the manufacturing costs of heart cams, for example, having external work faces. Another object of the present inventionis 10 to provide an inexpensive cam driven intermittent movement for a film handling apparatus which employs revoluble cams having external work facesand cooperating cam followers so arranged as to secure the desirable results of a box cam mechanism.

A further object of the present invention is to provide in amotion picture apparatus a simple; inexpensive, intermittent movement having film engaging teeth which move into engagement with the film along a substantially rectilinear path of travel. a g

i A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a carriage pivotally mounted at one side of the film path tobe reciprocated along the film path and a tooth-carrying member slidable upon said carriage for engagement with and disengagement from the film; l

Another purpose of the present invention is to provide anintermittent movement in which 30 the cam follower or followers are themselves re+ silient so that, without the use of additional springsythey hug the faces of the camsjwith which they cooperate. Such an arrangement is' particularly useful afterwear begins to appear,.- In movements previously constructed, coil springs have been used to hold the follower against theface of the cam. Under certain conditions, such an arrangement, although it requires two parts instead of one, as in the present invention may be 40 satisfactory, but athigh speed difficulties have developed. For example, such springs have" worked well in a four-to-one movement,but have not been efilcient at eight-to-one.

Other features andadvantages will appear as the description proceeds. f

It will of course be understood that I am showing one form only of my invention solely for purposes of illustration. Changes maybe made: therein without departing from the spiritof my invention or the scope of my broader claims. hold a cam follower in contact with the external i work faces of an ordinary revoluble cam part i In the drawing: i Figure l is a side view, broken away in part, of I a motion picture apparatus having my invention applied thereto.

tion I2 yieldingly urged against the fixed gate section by any well known means (not shown).

For feeding a conventional perforated film I3 intermittently through the gate, a claw device generally designated as l4 may include a body or carriage member I 5 pivoted on a shoulder stud I6 rigidly fastened in the plate III at a distance from the film path which is preferably several times the height of a single advance of the film'at one side of the gate section I I.

A reciprocable member I! is slidably mounted on the carriage I5 for movement toward and away, from the film path and has on its forward end two teethor fingers I8 which can be made integral with the member I1, if desired. The movement of the teeth I8 into the usual perforations of the film I3, according to the disclosure of, Figure 1, is along a substantially rectilinear path of travel. By lengthening the claw device I4 and positioning the pivot member I5 farther from the film path an approximate rectilinear path of travel of the teeth I8, away from the filmpath, may be had, if desired. It will of course be understood that the reciprocable member I1 may be arranged with onlyone tooth, or with more than two teeth. Means presently to be described are provided for guiding the reciprocable member I1 on the carriage I5.

For moving the carriage I5 and toothed member I1 up and down with respect to thefilm gate so as to give a very rapid advancing movement to the film I3 and a relatively long stationary -exposure period at an aperture I9 in the gate section II, an inexpensive, advantageous arrangement of cams and. associated cam followers is provided. A cam 20 is mounted on a shaft 2| disposed transversely to the carriage I5 and the plate III in which it may be journalledby a sourceof power (not shown). A cam 22 is also mounted on the shaft 2| and is rigidly secured. to the cam 20 in an angular relation thereto which will presently appear.. The earns 20 and 22 may be made of suitable metal in well known ways or these cams may be molded, in one piece from suitablematerial, preferably a synthetic resin such as bakelite and have suitable contours with re-entrant portions as shown in the drawing for cooperation with convexly curved cam follower.

portions.

To provide an operative connection between the claw device I4 and the cams 20 and 22 for giving the desired ,up-and-down intermittent movement to the claw device, a cam follower is fastened rigidly to the carriage. A cam contacting portion 26 angularly disposed relatively to the main supporting or body portion, extends upwardly toward the cam 20 and terminatesin a. rounded surface arranged for engagement against the edge or work face of the cam 20 (see Figure 1). The follower 25 may be joined to the carriage. I5 by means of a tongue-like portion 25f separated on its sides from the body of the carriage I5 by open slots 25s. By this construction, the desired resilience can be secured for the follower 25. Another cam follower 21 is fastened rigidly to the carriage in the rear of the cam follower 25, i. e. nearer the pivot I6, and extends upwardly past the top of the cam 22 and is bent downwardly to terminate in a rounded portion 28 arranged for engagement against the edge of the cam 22. It can be readily seen by those skilled in the art that if desired rollersfmay be mounted on the cam followers 25 and 21 to take the place of the rounded portions 26 and 28.

It will be understood from inspection of Figure 1 that the contour of the cam 20 and the shape and positioning of the cam follower member 25 are such that only the rounded portion 26 of the cam follower 25 ever comes into contact with the cam 20. Likewise, the contour of the cam 22 and the shape and positioning of the cam follower 21 are such that only the rounded portion 28 of the cam follower ever comes into contact with the" cam 22 This advantageous arrangement not only makes for reduction in friction, but also makes it. possible to provide small areas of hardened wearing surfaces for the curvedportions 26 and 28 while permitting and yet have a small amount of resilience sothat they can function to take up'their own wear and that of the work faces of the cams 20 and 22. They maybe rigidly fastened to the carriage by suitable means such as riveting. As shown inFigure 1, the carriage I5 may have a transversely disposed portion 30 bent downwardly and then parallel to the carriage H. A forwardguiding means for the slidable member I1 may be formed by'bending two fork-like portions 32 of the carriage rearwardly to be disposed beneath forwardly disposed offset portions 33 of the member; I1. The carriage portions 30 also serve as stop means for the teeth I8.

A rear'end portion 34 of the slidable toothed member I! may be bentdownwardly and an extensible spring 35 may have one end fastened to said bent portion 34 and the other end fastened to a stud 36 fastened to-the frame I 0. The spring 35 normally urges the teeth I8 away from the film path,

For moving the teeth I8 into usual perforations in the film I3,a bell crank lever device 40 is provided and is pivoted on a stud 4I fastened in the'plate I0. A depending arm 42 extends downwardly and passes through an elongated slot 43 inthe carriage 15 to engage in a slightly over-sized slot 44 in the slidable member IT. A forwardly extending arm 45 of the bell crank 40 is bent to lie alongside the cam 20 and is constructed for engagement with a cam 46 mounted F on the same shaft 2I which carries cams 20 and 22. The cam 46 may be made. of suitable material and be rigidly fastened to the cam 20, or the cams 20, 22 and 46 may be molded as one piece teeth I8 are moved from the uppermost starting position,'shown in full line in Figure l, tojtheir" from metal of suitable material such as a synthetic resin such as bakelite;

are revolved in thedirectionpf the arrow the lowermostposition (indicated in dot and dash) in one-twelfth of a complete revolution of shaft 2| on which the cams 20 and 22 are mounted. This arrangement leaves eleven-twelfths' of the time of one revolution of the shaft 2lfor the re-' maining portions 'of the work cycle of the teeth I8. Anyother desired ratio may be employed by changing the contour of the cams) The cam 46 and the cam follower arm 45 of the bell crank dqarepreferably arranged so that the teeth I8 begin and complete the advance of the film at a slow speed. Also, thefteeth are caused to remain entirely motionless or immobile for a short period after they reach the lower limit of their'travel andbefore the withdrawal of the teeth fromlthe perforations ofthe film begins. since it reduces the starting strain on the film and positively prevents themomenturn 'of the 1' This arrangement is advantageous,

fast moving film causing the film to be advanced lation to the aperture IQ.

for moving, the teeth, l8 downwardly ,is that ample time is left formoving the teeth i8, up wardly and then leftwardly as viewed in the drawing at a relatively slow speed into the next,

perforations in the filrn after the end of the above mentioned, period of immobility of the teeth l8 while engaging the film l3} As a result of, the above described arrangement, it will be seen that certain causes of film vention.

damage common to the rapid movements are absent from one constructed according to my infrom the, perforations overcomes any, excess motion, the cam engaging surfaces of the curved mentum of the film and prevents improper alignment of the teeth upon their next stroke into the following perforation or perforations. That is to say, the, film is stopped at the proper point so that the endsof the fingers thereafter may move into the-perforations at the center thereof.

1 drawal and the substantially right angled relaaion upon re-insertion. ,Such arrangement. has great advantages over movements of the socalled skip-stop type in which the fingers move at constantand very high speed, upon withdrawal and insertion: as well as upon operative movement; w i

According to a further feature of my invenportions 26 and 28are held insubstantially fixed relation, oneto the other, and thefworksurfaces of the cams 2lland 22 are so disposed relatively to each other and to the positioning of the curved portions 26 and 28 that the cooperation of the The, delayed removal of the fingers is substantially equivalent to that of a single box cam anda single cam follower for such a boxcam. In other words, the cam followers 25 and 21 are always in such engagement with the earns 20 and 22 respectively on opposite sides of theshaft 2| that the carriage l5 can only be moved by operation ofthe cams and 22. It will benoted that the spring,35'does not affect the movement of the carriage 1mm is effective for moving only the toothed member IS a short distance ina direction away from the film This ease of repair and, replacement of the parts.

, In Figure 3, thereisillustrated an alternative structure which may replace the cam 46 and cam follower arm 45 of Figures 1 and 2. A pin 50 may be firmly secured in the side of the cam 20 to project inwardly therefrom-i. e, toward the mounting frame I0. A ndtheycam follower drive '15 may be arranged with a cam follower work face 5| for engagement with the pin 50 in away t i i that the arm 45 is raised and without noise or even a very minute amount beyond, operative re- Afurtherbenefit re-' sulting from the relatively small portionjof a complete revolution of" the cam 20 'being used j space in a motion "picture apparatus. Other advantages arise from the provision of an intermittent movementmade up of parts of simple design which can, be inexpensively produced and .assembled in volume Still other advantages arise from the construction of an intermittent film feeding movement in which only one simple spring is used and such spring is arranged so that it needs to move apart only a short distance, and ata relatively slow speed.

1. In an intermittent film l feeding movement for a motion picture apparatus,in combination, a

claw device having abody extending away from i the film path and being pivoted atone side of the film path, a first upwardly extending camfollower rigidly fastened on saidbody, a revoluble cam disposed above said body for engagement with said follower, a second cam follower rigidly mounted on said body and extending upwardly and terminating in a downwardly bent portion, a second revoluble cam coaxial with said first cam and arrangedfor engagement with said bent portion of said second follower means for revolving said cams, said followersfand the faces of said cams being so formed and disposed that upon said' claw device in a plane generally parallel to thepath of the film, teeth slidably mounted upon said clawdevice, and means for moving saidteeth into and out of the plane of the film path in accombination, a clawdevicejncluding a toothed ca'ms 20 and 22 with the cam followers 25 and 21 memberextendlng away from the film path and a support for said toothed member, said toothed member being slidable on said support toward and away from the film path, said support being pivotally mounted for upward and downward movement, a first cam follower rigidly secured to said support and extending upwardly therefrom, a revoluble cam disposed above said support for engagement with said cam follower, a second cam follower rigidly secured to said support and extending upwardly therefrom and terminating in a downwardly bent portion, a second revoluble cam coaxial with said first cam arranged for engagement with said second cam follower, means for revolving said cams thereby moving said followers, and means for moving said toothed memher into and out of engagement with the film in time with the movement of said claw device by said cams. v

3. In an intermittent film feeding movement, in combination, a claw device including a toothed memberextending away from the film path, a support for said toothed member, said toothed member being slidable on said support toward and away from the film path, said support being pivotally mounted for upward and downward movement, at first cam follower rigidly secured to said support and extending upwardly therefrom, 8. revoluble cam disposed above said support for engagement with said cam follower, a second cam follower rigidly secured to said support and extending upwardly therefrom and terminating in a downwardly bent portion, a second revoluble cam coaxial with said first cam arranged for engagement with said second cam follower, means for revolving said cams, thereby moving said followers, and means for moving said toothed member'into and out of engagement with the film in accordance with the movement of said claw device by said cams, said last named means including a third cam coaxial with said first and re-entrant portions, a movably mounted support,

said toothed member being movably mounted on saidsupport, and two cam followers for said device mounted on said support in rigid relation one to the other, and means connecting said cam followers and said toothed member for moving the latter in accordance with the movement of said cam followers, said cam followers'each having a convexly curved cam contacting surface arranged for cooperation. with said re-entrant portions of a said cam device, said cam followers and said cam device being so shaped that they necessarily are always held in engagement, whereby their coaction is equivalent to that of a box cam having a single camfollower.

5. In an intermittent feeding movement, in combination, a toothed claw device extending away from the film path, means for moving said toothed device up and down along thefilm path,

and means for moving the teeth of said claw device'into and out of the film path, said first named moving means including a cam device having external work faces including re-entrant portions,

means for revolving said cam device, two cam follower members mounted on said clawdevice on one side-of said cam device in fixedr'elation, one

to the other, said cam, followers each having a convexly curved cam contacting surface arranged for cooperation with said re-entrant portions of said work faces of said cam device, the construction of said cam followers and said cam device being such that they are necessarily always in engagement so that their co-action is equivalent to that of a box cam having a single cam fol- I lower and the construction of said claw device and said cam followers being such that the movement of the teeth thereof into and out of the film path is without effect on the fixed relation of said cam followers. I

6. In an intermittent film feeding movement for film feeding apparatus, in combination, a carriage pivoted at one side of the film path and extending therefrom to a point adjacent the film path, means including a revoluble cam for reciprocating said carriage up and down along the film path, a tooth-carrying member slidably mounted on said carriage for movement of the teeth of said member alternately across and out of the film path, and means for so moving said teeth and into and out of engagement with the film, said teeth moving means including a bell-crank lever device having one arm operatively connected to said tooth carrying member and another arm arranged with a cam follower portion disposed in adjacent relation to the side of said cam, and a pin projecting from said side of said cam so as to engage said cam follower portion when said cam revolves.

7. An intermittent feeding movement for a perforated film, said movement including a carriage pivoted at one side of the film path a distance exceeding twice a single intermittent advance of the film, said carriage .extending from its pivot toward the film path at an approximate right angle thereto, a member slidably mounted on said carriage for movement toward and away from the film path, said member having teeth for insertion in the perforations of the film, a revoluble shaft disposed above said carriage transversely thereto, a first cam fixed on said shaft, a second cam fixed on said shaft, means for revolving said cams, a first upwardly extending cam follower rigidly secured on said carriage and arranged for engagement with said first cam, a second cam follower rigidly secured 'On said carriage and extending upwardly past said second cam on the side toward the pivot of said carriage, said second cam follower having a portion bent downwardly and toward said second cam for engagement therewith, said cam followers being held in fixed relation, one to the other, a spring arranged for urging said teeth out of engagement with the film, and means for moving said teeth into engagement with the film, said last named means including a bell crank pivoted above said carriage having a downwardly extending arm engaging said carriage, said bell crank having another arm extending forwardly over said shaft, and a third cam on said shaft for engaging the second named arm of said bell crank, said third cam and said cooperating arm being disposed for moving said teeth into the perforations of the film prior to the movement of said carriage downwardly by said first cam,'said third cam and said cooperating arm being arranged for moving said toothed member out of engagement with the film a predetermined time after the advance of the film has ceased and said second cam becomes operative to raise said carriage to starting position, each of said cam followers always being in such engagement with its associated cam that said carriage is always positively controlled by said first and second cams.

8. In an intermittent film movement, in combination, a claw device including a carriage reciprocable along the film path, a revoluble shaft disposed transversely to said carriage, a first cam fixed on said shaft and arranged with external work faces, a second cam having external work faces and, being mounted on said shaft in a fixed angular relation to said first cam, means for revolving said cams, and an operative connection between said cams and said claw device for reciprocating the latter in a predetermined mannerand in a direction substantially parallel to the path of movement 'of the film, said connection including a first cam follower fixed on said claw device for cperatively engaging said firstcam, and a second cam follower flxed on said claw device and arranged for operative engagement with said second cam at a point which is adjacent the opposite side of said shaft from the point of engagement of said first cam and its cam follower, said cam followers being formed with body portions which have suificient resilience to take up their own i wear and the wear on the work faces of said cams and with rounded terminal portions which engage said such faces.

9. In an intermittent film movement, in combination, a claw device including a carriage re angular relation to said first cangmeans for revolving said cams, and an operative connection between said cams and said claw device for reciprocating the latter, in a predetermined manner and in a direction substantially parallel to the path of movement of the film, said con nection including a first cam follower fixed on said claw device for operatively engaging said first cam, and a second cam follower fixed on said'claw device and arranged for operatively enof said cams and with rounded terminal portions which engage said such faces, said cam foilowers being constructed to have a sufficient stiffness and said cams being correlatively positioned so that the coaction of said cams and said cam followers is substantially equivalent to that of a box cam and its follower.

10. In an intermittent film movement, in combination, a slidable tooth-bearing member, an integral carriage structure for supporting and moving said tooth-bearing member, said carriage structure comprising a body portion/two cam follower portions extending from said body portion, and a guiding portion extending from said lever.

11. In an intermittent film movement, in combination, a slidable tooth-bearing member, a substantially fiat carriage member for supporting and guiding said tooth-bearing member, said carriage member being disposed with the plane 'of its flat side parallel to-the axis of said shaft,

a plurality of cams revoluble with said shaft, a first cam follower having a supporting portion extending from said carriage member in a direction normal to said fiat side and terminating in a portion engaging one of said cams at a point on one side, of said shaft, a second cam follower having a supporting portion extending fromsaid carriage member in said direction and having aportion engaging another of said cams at a point on the opposite side of said shaft from that upon whichsaid engaging portion of said first cam follower engages its cam, said supporting portion of said second cam follower being shaped to clear the portion of its cam between its point of engagement with its cam and said carriage, said cams through said followers being effective to impart an asymmetrically timed movement to said carriage, and means for sliding said tooth-bearing member ,upon said carriage.

EDWARD H. SPERBERG. 

